The "Tropical Research Station La Gamba" - science, education and nature conservation in Costa Rica

In 1991, Michael Schnitzler, a distinguished musician from Vienna, founded the association ¿Rainforest of the Austrians¿ (Verein ¿Regenwald der Österreicher¿). The essential objective was to protect the Esquinas rainforest in southern Costa Rica (now Piedras Blancas National Park) from logging. A second aim was to provide research facilities for Austrian (and other) students and scientists. Schnitzler purchased an old farmhouse (¿finca¿), located at the edge of the Esquinas forest, near the small village of La Gamba. This ¿finca¿ was the precursor and nucleus of a tropical field station which is now the ¿Tropical Research Station La Gamba¿. Scientific and financial support came from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research, the University of Vienna and the association ¿Rainforest of the Austrians¿. The station currently encompasses several buildings, including comfortable accommodation rooms, an air-conditioned laboratory with equipment for chemical and ecophysiological studies, research instruments such as microscopes, binoculars, laptops etc., and a botanical garden. The station is at the threshold of becoming an internationally established research institution and education centre, with the ambition of contributing to the exploration and conservation of Neotropical forests. Research work at the station has resulted in many doctoral, diploma and baccalaureal theses and scientific publications, with a broad range of topics. Moreover, students from Austria, Germany, Costa Rica and the U.S.A regularly use the station as a base camp for excursions and field courses.